Chester Conn

Chester Conn (né Master Chester Cohn; April 14, 1894 in San Francisco, California – April 4, 1973 in Flushing, Queens) was an American composer of popular music and music publisher.[1]

Early career

In 1918, Cohn was working for Broadway Music Corp[lower-alpha 1] in New York.[2] In 1922, Cohn was working for Leo Feist, Inc., in its Chicago office.[3] In 1937, Conn co-founded the New York music publishing of Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc. ("BVC"). The other name partners were Jack Bregman (né Joseph Bregman; 1901–1967) and Rocco Vocco (1887–1960). Chester Conn's only child, a son, Jack D. Conn (1926–1966), had been an executive at BVC. Given that Bregman, Vocco, and Jack Conn all predeceased Chester, Chester sold the firm in May 1967 to 20th Century Fox for 4.5 million dollars in cash.[4] Chester Conn died five years later at age 78.

Selected works

Conn's best-known song is the jazz standard "Sunday" (Jule Styne, Ned Miller, Benny Krueger, lyrics; ©1926).[lower-roman 1] The Jazz Discography Online, as of June 2017, lists 497 recording sessions for "Sunday" – from 1926 to 2015.[5] Other songs include "My Suppressed Desire" (Ned Miller, lyrics; ©1928), "Outside of Heaven" (Sammy Gallop, lyrics; ©1952), "Just Like Before" (co-composed with Bill Huston and Sammy Gallop; ©1953),[lower-roman 2][lower-roman 3] "I Don't Think You Love Me Anymore" (Sammy Gallop, lyrics; ©1953),[lower-roman 4] "Make Her Mine" (Sammy Gallop, lyrics; ©1954),[lower-roman 5] "Forgive My Heart" (Sammy Gallop, lyrics; ©1955), "Night Lights" (Sammy Gallop, co-composer; ©1956), "It's None of My Affair" (Sam Gallop, lyrics; ©1957), "Time To Go Home" (Sam Gallop, lyrics; ©1958),[lower-roman 6] "Blue Waltz (La Valse Bleue)" (1960), "Anything I Do" (co-composed with George Douglas; ©1965),[lower-roman 7] "Oh Well", and "Because You Lied."

Other works
  • "What'll You Do?"
Chester Cohn (words)
Ernie Erdman (music)
Broadway Music Corp., New York[lower-alpha 1]
© 22 November 1921; E523162
  • "You Don't Like It, Not Much"
Ned Miller
Art Kahn
Chester Cohn
Leo Feist, Inc., New York
© 25 June 1927; E665996
(band arrangement by Onofrio Sciacca)
  • "Why Should I Cry Over You"
Chester Conn (w&m)
Ned Miller (w&m)
Leo Feist, Inc.
© 14 April 1922; E534774
© 19 May 1922; 538621
© 7 July 1922; E542251
(arrangement by Frank Edward Barry; 1883–1937 – staff arranger for Leo Feist)
© 11 September 1922; E543788
(arrangement by Frank Edward Barry)
© 15 November 1922; E552081
(arrangement for ukulele by William J. Smith)
© 18 December 1922; E554461
(arrangement for male voices by Alfred John Doyle, Sr.; 1874–1929)
OCLC 11272996, 20597698, 703630663
Sheet music, in pdf (public domain), courtesy University of Mississippi
  • "Crying for You"
Chester Cohn (music)
Ned Miller (words)
Leo Feist, Inc., New York
© 22 November 1922; E549890
© 9 July 1923; E563681 (Alt. link)
© 24 November 1923; 555430
OCLC 861306193, 221554714
  • "Don't Mind the Rain"
Ned Miller (w&m)
Chester Cohn (w&m)'
Leo Feist, Inc., New York
© 3 December 1923; E577690
OCLC 463913624, 61191541, 20597920
Sheet music, in pdf (public domain), courtesy York University
  • "The Talk of the Town"
Gus Kahn (words)
Chester Conn (music)
Leo Feist, Inc., New York
© 17 December 1929; EU14672
© 31 December 1929; EP12355
OCLC 499085501
  • "So Close to Me"
Wayne King (w&m)
Jerry Castillo (w&m)
Chester Cohn (w&m)
Leo Feist, Inc., New York
© 15 September 1931; EP25135
  • "Sicilian Tarantella" (American song title)
"Fischiettando" (Italian song title)
G. Balsamo (Italian composer)
Ned Miller (words)
Chester Conn (words)
Triangle Music Corp., New York[6]
© 16 May 1949; EP36995
OCLC 6608838
  • "I'll Never Know Why"
Sammy Gallop (words)
Chester Conn (music)
Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
© 9 February 1951; EP52754
OCLC 279281654
  • "Will o' the Wisp Romance"
Sammy Gallop (words)
Chester Conn (music)
Triangle Music Corp., New York[6]
© 25 February 1953; EP69771
  • "That's You"
Nelson Riddle (w&m)
Sammy Gallop (w&m)
Chester Conn (w&m)
Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
3 March 1960; EU616719
  • "The Right Thing To Say"
Sammy Gallop (words)
Chester Conn (music)
Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
© 15 February 1962; EU706926
OCLC 499059338

Performers of Conn's work

The performers who have recorded Conn's songs include Nat King Cole, John Coltrane, Eddie Fisher, Coleman Hawkins, Milt Jackson, Carmen McRae, Gerry Mulligan, Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, Clark Terry, and Ben Webster, Lester Young.

Death

Chester was born to David Cohn and Minnie (née Newman; 1871–1946).[7] At an early age, Chester was raised by his mother, who had become a widow sometime before 1900. Chester Conn died of a heart attack April 4, 1973, while living in Flushing, Queens. He was stricken at the Aqueduct Racetrack. Conn was survived by his wife, Grace (née Grace Belle Goodman; 1885–1978), whom he married May 1, 1921, in Chicago. He was also survived as daughter-in-law, Ella Conn (née Raffaella Nardino; 1928–2010), and one grandson, Brian Conn (born 1961). Ella Conn (Chester's daughter-in-law) was an aunt to Gary Nardino (1935-1998), a notable Hollywood TV and film director, producer, and industry executive.

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gollark: Plausibly.

References

General references

Notes
  1. Broadway Music Corporation is a privately held American publisher of popular music that was founded in 1913 by Will Von Tilzer (né William U. Gumbinsky; surname later changed to Gumm; 1882–1952) (Albert's brother), and headed by him for thirty-nine years until his death in 1952. Around 1960, after some shuffling among new owners, the corporation was restructured and became the imprint of the London firm Kassner Music for North America, which endures today. Kassner Music, founded by Edward Kassner (1920–1996), maintains the Broadway Music Corporation as a New York entity and a subsidiary.

Original copyrights

Catalog of Copyright Entries, Library of Congress, Copyright Office

  1. Part 3, New Series, Vol. 21, Part 2, Last Half of 1926, Nos. 7–12 (1927), pg. 1028
  2. Third Series, Vol. 7, Part 5B, July–December 1953, No. 2 (1954), pg. 657
    "Just Like Before"
    William D. Huston (w&m)
    Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
    © 17 July 1953; EU323884
  3. Third Series, Vol. 8, Part 5B, July–December 1954, No. 2 (1955), pg. 532
    "Just Like Before"
    Bill Huston (w&m)
    Sammy Gallop (w&m)
    Chester Conn (w&m)
    Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
    © 23 July 1954; EU365574
  4. Third Series, Vol. 7, Part 5B, July–December 1953, No. 2 (1954), pg. 611
    "I Don't Think You Love Me Any More"
    Sammy Gallop (words)
    Chester Conn (music)
    Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
    © 4 December 1953; EU340162
  5. Third Series, Vol. 8, Part 5A, January–June 1954, No. 1 (1954), pg. 52
    "Make Her Mine"
    Sammy Gallop (words)
    Chester Conn (music)
    Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
    © 1 June 1954; EP80952
  6. Third Series, Vol. 12, Part 5, No. 1, January–June 1958 (1959), pg. 551
    "Time To Go Home"
    Sammy Gallop (words)
    Chester Conn (music)
    Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.
    © 26 February 1958; EU513614
  7. Third Series, Vol. 19, Part 5, No. 1, January–June 1965 (1967), pg. 551
    "Anything I Do"
    George Douglas (w&m)
    Chester Conn (w&m)
    Bregman, Vocco, & Conn, Inc.
    © 8 March 1965; EU870580

Other inline citations
  1. The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary (4th ed.), compiled for the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers – by Jaques Cattell Press, New York: R. R. Bowker Co. (1980)
    "Conn, Chester," pg. 96
    OCLC 7065938, 607901541, 568030296
    OCLC 41386928, 12259500, 180504594
    OCLC 723489684
    (Search only via HathiTrust)
  2. "US WWI Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918"
    "Chester M Cohn"
    Citing San Francisco City No 11, NARA microfilm publication M1509, FHL microfilm 1,544,245
  3. " "Run on 'Stumbling' in California," Music Trades, Vol. 64, No. 4, July 22, 1922, pg. 38
  4. "Jack Bregman is Dead at 68," Billboard, September 23, 1967, pg. 4)
  5. Tom Lord, The Jazz Discography Online, Lord Music; OCLC 690104143 (retrieved 7 June 2017; subscription required; accessible at many libraries)
  6. "'Sicilian Tarantella' Go To BVC," Billboard, April 2, 1949, pg. 54
  7. "Music----As Written: New York," Billboard, October 12, 1946, pg. 34
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